Range Rover Evoque vs Smart 1

What's the difference?

The Range Rover Evoque is more highly specified and more luxurious than ever, and this plug-in hybrid version makes the most of what’s on offer with its slick but familiar feel from behind the wheel. 

Unfortunately, it does have an eye-watering price tag to go with its classy design and the options list is a bit rude, all things considered, but the core offering is a solid luxury buy for city-slickers, nonetheless. 

What makes the Evoque P300e stand out for me is its impressive EV driving range and excellent charging specs which make it as convenient as possible to make the most of its electrified features.

It’s up to the buyer whether these conveniences and the Range Rover badge are worth swapping into a car a full size down from its luxury plug-in rivals for the same money.

It’s easy to get lost in marketing hype, but — based on first impressions — the Smart #1 does what it says on the tin. This is a Chinese-built SUV that feels more premium than most, and one which is priced to tempt you from one of the German big three. The warranty isn’t good enough, though, and the multimedia screen can be infuriating, but it drives very nicely, especially on suburban roads.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

The Evoque has always been a car all about its sleek, city-slicking design, an iconic piece of modern SUV art from Jaguar Land Rover head of design, Gerry McGovern.

With its shapely proportions, clever descending roofline, and a silhouette which successfully reflects a miniaturised version of the Range Rover, the Evoque is at once classy with a faint suggestion of toughness under the skin.

The blacked-out grille, slimline headlights, and contemporary strip across the tailgate all serve to add intrigue to this SUV, and the extra detailing in the front bumper, shapeliness of the bonnet, and contrast black trims (with extra contrast panels on our test car matching the gloss black wheels) serving to add to its premium appeal.

It’s important to remember, while the Evoque slides into a busy small SUV landscape now, it was one of the first to make a premium car so successfully appealing in this small SUV space way back in 2011 with the first Evoque, following Land Rover’s historic trend of being in front of the SUV curve.

Rival small SUV designs may have caught up in the minds of many with the likes of the Audi Q3, BMW X2, and Volvo XC40 shining in recent years, but few have won as many design accolades as the Evoque.

Range Rover seems to be leaning into a more upper luxury trend, not just with the pricing, but with the vibe of the car’s interiors, too.

The new generation Evoque, for example, took a big jump in the look and feel of its interior appointments when it launched in 2019, and over time has only consolidated its market positioning.

The HSE grade which our P300e hybrid arrives in is lavish on the inside, with lovely suede-like seats, intricate contrasting grey cloth trims in the doors (do I detect an influence from Volvo here?) and a plush-looking dash, all finished in soft-to-the touch materials.

Attention to detail, like the silver bezels which adorn the centre console and media screen, add to the premium flair which lifts the Range Rover badge above the Land Rover one, and I do like the way the additional function screen seamlessly melts into the piano finish and integrated dials. While it’s always a nightmare to keep gloss piano finishes clean, it looks oh-so primo.

It’s a little odd the P300e has analogue dials, which seems to miss the premium edge which a fully digital dash might provide although the 7.0-inch centre dash screen has a great resolution and speed, as well as a mostly well laid out operating system.

I found the R-Dynamic modes, which can sharpen up the accelerator response and steering buried two menus deep, unnecessarily hard to find, as were various EV information screens and other less important functions.

There is an impossibility pretty model in Smart’s new line-up, but the #1 ain’t it. While the #3 — which has also just launched — is a sleek-looking, coupe-style SUV, the #1 is a top-heavy small SUV that doesn’t shine from every angle.

Front-on, or from a front three-quarter angle, the #1 definitely works, with the brand setting out to remove unnecessary fussiness from the design, leaving smooth and rounded bodywork in its place.

There are no body creases or weird angles here, instead it’s a smooth, fluid-like design that flows from the front LED lights bar to the smooth shoulder lines to the matching light treatment at the rear. 

But it’s at the rear where, for mine, the design begins to fall over. From that angle, the #1 looks skinny and top-heavy, especially when wearing the red hat of the Brabus model.

Still, eye of the beholder and all that.

Inside, though, the #1 kicks all sorts of goals, presenting as a properly premium-feeling EV space that’s swimming with technology and lovely cabin materials.

I particularly love the letterbox-style screen that replaces the traditional dashboard. It’s not distracting or overbearing like some twin-screen set-ups, but clearly shows you the key driving stuff you need when you’re on the road.

Side note, though, the massive central screen is super clear and lightning fast, but as usual you need to spend some (a lot) of time with it to figure out where all the functions are hiding, with most of the car’s key controls hidden within its labyrinth.

And side note two, the background graphics look like they were designed by a cordial-addled child, it is busy, cartoonish and out of keeping with the calm, grown-up nature of the #1’s cabin.

While it still plays the role of Range Rover’s smallest SUV, the current Evoque is much bigger than the car it replaced in 2019. I would go so far as to say it’s deceptively large on the inside.

Front occupants are treated to a cabin which now feels almost as wide as an actual Range Rover, with plenty of room for elbows on either side, which are, of course, met by lovely soft-touch surfaces.

The raised console helps with the upmarket feel, as does the plush dash. The standard 14-way adjust front seats help to accommodate most passengers, with my only criticism being the large A-pillars and height of the dash can make it feel a little bit claustrophobic compared to some rival luxury SUVs.

Storage is offered through a set of large door pockets, a centre console box, dual bottle holders behind the shift lever, and a healthy nook underneath the climate controls, which also hosts a wireless charging bay.

The rear seats share the same comfortable rim as the front ones, and also have large pockets in the doors. Despite the descending roofline, I had just enough room for my head at 182cm tall although it is notable the space in the PHEV feels smaller with the raised floor needed to accommodate the batteries.

I had a little airspace for my knees behind my own driving position, too. The main drawback for rear passengers is the large transmission tunnel, making it difficult to accommodate an adult in the centre position.

There are adjustable air vents for rear passengers, but it is frustrating Land Rover has chosen to make rear USB-C charging ports an arbitrary $270 option.

The boot is also deceptively large for such a small SUV, measuring in at 472 litres (VDA), it’s above average for the small SUV class and fits the full CarsGuide luggage set, provided you remove the parcel shelf as it's just a smidge too high.

You'll also need to keep your charging cables in the boot, as there's no underfloor storage, the entire space being taken up by a space-saver spare wheel.

The Smart #1 measures just under 4.3m long, just over 1.8m in width and around 1.6m in height, and it rides on a 2.75m wheelbase. And the perk of the Smart’s EV powertrain, the brand says, is Mercedes-Benz E-Class levels of space in the back seat, despite the #1’s diminutive footprint.

It’s a big claim, and while I didn’t break out the tape measure I can say the backseat feels plenty generous, and because the rear pew slides forwards or backwards by 15cm, you can choose whether you want more legroom or more luggage space.

Speaking of which, pop the auto-opening boot (by hitting the ‘a’ in the ‘Smart’ lettering, which I couldn’t figure out without help) and you’ll find 323 litres of space with the back seat as far back as it goes, growing to 411 litres with it pushed all the way forward. There’s also a 15-litre frunk.

Smart says the #1 weighs 1800kg, adding it will tow 1600kg — but I’m sure you can imagine the impact a heavy load will have on your driving range.

The #1 is available in three trim levels — the Pro+, Premium and Brabus — and pricing (before on-road costs) climbs from $54,900 to $58,900 and $67,900. 

Brabus, by the way, was a lesser-known Mercedes-Benz tuning arm, a little like AMG, which should give you some idea of what to expect from the performance-badged models.

Anyway, that pricing is good enough to undercut key rivals, including the Volvo EX30 (from $59,990) and BMW iX1 ($78,900), and it’s drastically less than Mercedes-Benz's EQA 250 ($84,900), all before on-road costs.

Also firmly in the Smart’s favour is that there isn’t a cheap-feeling model among them, with even the Pro+ feeling properly well-equipped and premium.

Entry-level cars score 19-inch alloys, a panoramic roof, LED lighting, a powered tailgate and a 12.8-inch central screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a 9.2-inch digital dashboard. There’s wireless device charging and a decent stereo, too.

The Premium then adds matrix LED headlights, leather trim, a huge head-up display and a better Beats stereo, while the Brabus scores a unique interior and exterior treatment, better suspension and a launch control function.

The Evoque now sports Jaguar Land Rover’s hybridised ‘Ingenium’ engine family across the range, and the set-up which appears in the plug-in hybrid model might be the most interesting.

It consists of a 1.5-litre three-cylinder combustion engine which is said to produce 147kW/280Nm, and an electric motor powering the rear axle producing 80kW, the two of which combine for an impressive quoted total output of 227kW/540Nm, driving all four wheels.

The motor sources its power from a 15kWh lithium-ion battery pack under the floor of the car, which provides a claimed 62km of fully-electric driving range.

Land Rover also replaced the mechanical brake pedal with a drive-by-wire one to allow for improved ‘blended’ regenerative braking.

There are two drivetrains on offer here - one shared across the Pro+ and Premium, and another delivering the prodigious power of the #1 Brabus.

The first shared option is a single rear motor that delivers 200kW and 343Nm, which is enough to knock off the sprint to 100km/h in 6.7 seconds. Top speed for all models is listed as 180km/h.

The Brabus, though, adds a motor at the front axle, giving it AWD, which ups the outputs to a punchy 315kW and 543Nm, dropping the sprint to 100km/h to a very fast-feeling 3.9 seconds.

It’s a single-speed EV transmission in each, which means smooth, constant power delivery with no traditional ‘steps’, and all get 'Eco', 'Normal' and 'Sport' drive modes, though the only thing they impact is the accelerator response.

You can add weight to the steering, but that’s a separate item accessed elsewhere in the screen’s sub-menus.

Claimed energy consumption on the combined WLTP cycle for the Range Rover Evoque P300e is 2.0L/100km. As with all plug-in hybrids though, this will heavily depend on how it is driven.

The 15kWh battery is said to provide a 62km driving range (again, on the WLTP cycle), which seems healthy for a PHEV, and I was pleased to find that my car was reporting about 56km on a full charge, not far off the claim.

Importantly, the Evoque has stellar charging specifications, which make it ideal for a city-slicker with minimal time to conveniently charge.

I was shocked to find a DC charging port when I flipped open the panel, which is capable of charging the tiny battery up in just 20 minutes (at a peak rate of 35kW), while on a slower but easier-to-find AC charger, it can extract 7kW allowing a charge time of around two hours.

This is well above par for a plug-in hybrid, and makes charging quick, painless and convenient, even for those who can’t charge at home.

As a result of this ease-of-charging and therefore minimal time spent in the hold or hybrid modes, my car reported an astounding 1.0/100km of fuel consumption during my week, covering mostly urban kilometres.

The only drawback is the need to fill this small turbo engine with mid-shelf 95RON fuel.

All Smart #1 models share the same 66kWh battery, but how far you can travel between charges comes down to the trim you choose, with the WLTP driving range either 400km, 420km or 440km. The Brabus, of course, covers the least ground between charges, owing to its dual-motor set-up and amped up power outputs. 

When it comes time to plug in, all models are equipped with 150kW DC fast-charging capability, and when plugged into said charger, you can expect to go from zero to 80 per cent charged in less than 30 minutes. 

There’s also 22kW AC charging on board in the Premium and Brabus models, which means you can use three-phase power, but plugged into a regular 7.4kWh home wallbox should see you go from zero to 80 per cent charged in 7.5 hours, which means overnight charging should work a treat.

The second-gen Evoque is still the lovely, luxury, small SUV it was when it launched in 2019, and this plug-in hybrid version only serves to improve the formula, adding sleek electric driving characteristics to the already-smooth turbo engine and torque converter automatic.

Interestingly, and like its Volvo XC60 rival, the electric motor is located on the rear axle, giving this car the odd characteristic of being rear-wheel drive when driven electrically, or predominantly front-wheel drive when driven in combustion mode.

Speaking of modes, this car does the bulk of the management, with only three driving modes available to the pilot. These include the default ‘hybrid’ mode, which as the name suggests, blends the two power sources with more of an emphasis on electric driving when the battery is charged.

There's also an electric mode, which will only use the rear axle motor until the battery runs out, and a ‘Hold’ mode which will still blend the two sources but predominantly rely on the combustion engine to maintain the car’s state of charge.

You might want to use the last mode if you're travelling long-distance, to maintain the electric range for where it is most efficient - in low-speed stop-start driving.

The regenerative braking is not adjustable, having just a single mild level. It’s far from the single-pedal driving you can experience in a fully electric car, but Land Rover has made the brake pedal fly-by-wire so it can blend increased regen with the mechanical brakes.

It makes for a familiar experience from behind the wheel for those coming straight out of a purely combustion vehicle.

The electrified brake pedal does have the consequence of removing a bit of feel for a keen driver, and the same can be said for the rather slow steering tune in the default settings which makes the Evoque feel more luxurious and less sporty or reactive than it could be.

It’s a shame, because the two power sources combine to make for a thumping amount of power when you stick your boot in, and the all-wheel drive system and nicely balanced suspension keep this little SUV well under control in the corners.

As with my original Evoque range review in 2019, though, it is notable how heavy this SUV feels, particularly compared to some rivals like the Audi Q3.

The heftiness suits the Evoque's expanded dimensions and even more upmarket feel, but despite the power on offer it’s not an agile SUV to be carving corners in.

At least the ride quality and quietness is superb, making the Evoque an ideal SUV for driving around the centre of pothole-stricken Sydney, with a notable amount of poise. At the end of the day, isn’t that what this Range Rover was built for?

The #1 and its sister car, the #3, might share powertrains and batteries, but they are designed to drive very differently. The #3 is the sporty one (always code for a firmer ride), while the #1 is supposed to be softer, more comfortable and more city-friendly.

That’s the theory, at least. In practice, I have no idea. My time behind the wheel of the #1 was limited to its most fire-breathing model — the Brabus, which also scores its own suspension components — and soft is not a word that comes to mind once you’re strapped in behind its bright red seatbelt.

It begins with those bonkers power outputs, 315kW and 543Nm, which deliver genuine push-you-back-in-your-seat acceleration every time you stand on the go pedal.

Better still (well, I think so, at least), is that activating its sportiest 'Brabus' mode also unlocks a deep Abarth-style burbling soundtrack that rises and falls with your inputs.

But like most performance EVs, you can also dial the drive experience right back. In its softer drive modes the #1 Brabus feels calm and comfortable and not overly reactive, which makes sense, given the only thing the Brabus mode changes is accelerator sensitivity.

The result, though, is a car that you can tootle around in silently when you want to but hides a nuclear weapon under your right foot when you want to unleash that part of its personality. 

Downsides? It’s got plenty of point-and-shoot power, but in the few corners we managed to find in it, it didn’t quite live up to the all-out-performance badge. There’s a bit too much movement in the body — a symptom of its near-2.0-tonne weight — and it doesn’t feel entirely engaging.

A couple of important caveats, though. We didn’t get long behind the wheel of the #1, and the dull-as-dishwater prescribed drive program revealed little about its true performance potential. So, we’ll have to wait until the model is properly through the CarsGuide garage to give you a deeper dive on this one.

Full credit to Smart on this one, because the #1 comes with a pretty stacked active (crash avoidance) safety tech list, and though our test drive was far from exhaustive, only the speed limit warning (which you can switch off) felt overly intrusive, with the rest just sort of humming away in the background.

The full package includes things like adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, traffic-sign recognition and the aforementioned speed limit warning. There’s also AEB, along with seven airbags, all of which has earned the #1 a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating.

As of April, 2021 all Land Rover products are finally covered by an industry-standard five-year and unlimited kilometre warranty, matching its key rivals, and beating out BMW which persists with an old three-year warranty promise. Five years of roadside assist is also included for the duration.

When it comes to servicing, the P300e is available to be purchased with a five-year plan ($2650 - $530 annually) which covers 102,000km of visits.

This pack is well worthwhile as Land Rover servicing is generally quite expensive when purchased a-la-carte.

Warranty is a definite soft spot, with LSH Auto offering five years or 150,000km, whichever comes first. For reference, other Chinese newcomers include Chery (seven years) BYD (six years) and GWM (seven years), while MG has just shifted to a 10-year warranty.

Still, service intervals are 12 months/20,000km, and you should be able to take your Smart to any LSH Auto Mercedes dealership (in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney) or either of the Smart dealerships in Sydney or Brisbane.

Service cost for the first four years averages $611 per workshop visit for the Pro+ and Premium (worth noting the fourth service is a big one) and $780 for the Brabus. Not particularly small numbers.